iPhone 5s Bending In People’s Pockets

Back when the iPhone 5 first came out, there were a surprising number of reports of people whose iPhones suddenly bent themselves. This did not seem to be an issue with accidental damage en masse: most of the people who reported the issue noted that their iPhones bent back at the volume button, and hadn’t been kept in a back pocket or sat on.

It seems with the iPhone 5s, this mysterious predilection towards bending has returned.

Over at French site Nowherelse.fr, our good friend Steve Hemmerstoffer points out that bent iPhone 5s devices already seem to be popping up. And boy, are they bent.

On one hand, you’d expect for the iPhone 5s — which shares the same chassis as the iPhone 5 — to have the same structural issues as its predecessor. But this is a big structural fault to leave unfixed between two generations. Even if you do keep your iPhone in your back pocket and sit on it regularly, an iPhone made out of metal and glass folding in on itself like a bent boner is an engineering issue.

Has your iPhone 5s bent in your pocket since you purchased it? Let us know in the comments.

About the author:

John Brownlee is a Contributing Editor. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.

iFan41

How about we try being responsible consumers and not sit on our phones?

HarryWessling

Not an iPhone 5 but an iPod 5 with it’s beautiful aluminum alloy

DrM47145

The way I see it, this would only be an issue if the heat coming out of that A7 would be directly responsible for the aluminium melting and the device bending itself with no additional effort, which I seriously doubt to be the case. If people apply pressure on their devices causing them to bend, that is a misuse, not a design flaw. With enough pressure, everything would show a consistent point of failure, even a perfectly good structural design.

The problem with the iPhone 5s is not its chassis design, but the stupid design of iOS7. Jony fucked it up badly. Removing all skeuomorphism was premature. What is a button and what is text? If he wanted to move things out of the way, then every white background should be black. Just to start! Join me in in making a point to Apple.

Allancook

Mine has not bent. I can’t imagine how this could happen.

varyform

Bender Rodrigues has a lot of free time now to master his skills :)

Avenged110

Bonus points for working boner into a story about an issue with aluminum bending…

technochick

Sorry but if you sit your big ass on your phone and that is the result, it’s damage not defect.

ElSaborAsiatico

THERE IS NO IPHONE

iMobileRescue

This has to be some sort of mistake! I mean.. either they’re coming from the factory in some weak condition conducive to bending, or people are putting too much weight on the devices, in their pockets or elsewhere. We say that, coming from the perspective of breaking open iPhone 5’s nearly every day. We’re intimate with them, you could say.

iMobileRescue

Bonus points for working boner into a story about an issue with aluminum bending…

Ha!!

JacekWolvi

For me it is look like picture made in panoramic view with shake hand. I think it is a scam..

Xenomorph

STOP sitting on your iPhone!

NewTexianBrew

I call BS.

patrickahles

Every phone will bend or break when you sit on it…

PatatoOor

who is stupid enough to put a 700$ phone in his back pocket and sit on it ??

nvettese

Every phone will bend or break when you sit on it…

My Nexus 4 lives in my back pocket, and it has yet to bend, at all.

jaybee

Benders.

TheWaveable

Nothing bend itself…

MrsCleaver

Aside from comments by the so-called US Speaker of the House, this has to be one of the stupidest things posted on the Internet in the last few days.

bdkennedy

If you’re sitting on your phone, you deserve a bent phone.

raffephotoLA

I’ve seen plenty of bent phones from extraordinarily stupid people, however, that photo is very poorly photoshopped.

brandon

This is beyond stupid…

pwx_kevin

I call shenanigans. Considering all of the components and structural elements inside the iPhone, I doubt very seriously anyone could bend it. If you think I’m wrong, let’s see it on YouTube! Still images can be Photoshopped.

Just take a look at this teardown of the 5S on iFixIt and tell me that thing could bend: http://goo.gl/4R8hwR

trex67

So, Uri Geller bought an iPhone 5s?

Neil Anderson

It’s the new handheld curved displays.

Neil Anderson

iPhone 5s — the s stands for supple.

Neil Anderson

Email reply from Steve: You’re sitting on it wrong.

Atienne

I’m gonna go with large bottom buffoons forgetting that they just put a $500 phone in the back pocket.

Macguy59

Looks like there is some damage at the top edge of the phone. If there is it wouldn’t be tough to conclude the phone has been damaged (not merely bent)

skateforjake

This is a minor issue that Apple plans on not apologizing for. C’mon people, this is innovation we’re talking about! But seriously, this is clearly some sick joke.

Steven Quan

I call shenanigans. Considering all of the components and structural elements inside the iPhone, I doubt very seriously anyone could bend it. If you think I’m wrong, let’s see it on YouTube! Still images can be Photoshopped.

I agree, how would the glass not break or shatter? Something doesn’t add up here.

CirclesAPP

Hi guys! Sorry for OT, but we are searching beta testers for our iOS app Circles: Contact and Groups Manager… App will be for free, of course.

It happened to my iPhone 5. I’ve always kept my phone in my back pocket and it never happened to my 3GS or 4.

But about a week after I got it I sat on a hard and very curved chair and it bent the phone.

Split the aluminum near the volume-down button but I was able to bend it back into shape and the phone still works fine 11 months later.

KTGHowie

This is total B.S.! The iPhone is made of aluminum and glass. It doesn’t just bend itself. You have to apply pressure for this to happen… A LOT OF PRESSURE. This is just a bunch of people blaming Apple for their own irresponsible behavior.

Max Ryan

I own an iPhone 5s and for last two months have had it safely secured in a life proof case . Within these two months I have dropped it only once and no damage was seen . Recently I pulled it out of the case and realized it was bent . It is Bent back starting where you insert the SIM card. The concave is seen throughout whole back . It looks as if the phone is popping out of it’s backing . This bend has caused the SIM card slot to pop out but no internal complications seem to be observed . This error needs to be addressed and fixed with the manufacturing .

Diana Tietsworth-Cashman

I don’t even put my phone in my pants pockets and it bent. Still trying to figure out how it happened. Apple says “accidental damage” so I’m stuck with a bent $700 aluminum piece of junk.

Stephan Johnson

Mine is and I don’t even put it in my pocket. I don’t even know how it is!

David Metcalfe

my Iphone 5s 16GB gold had a speaker problem for about month it use to crackle and go off and turning your phone on mute and off mute fixed it or if that didnt work you turn your handset off and on that always fixed it but that is no good for a £500 / £700 phone so i finally got round to taken it to apple ltd in newcastle on 9th april 2014 for a free repair under garentee witch usually would cost £37.50 witch this morning on 10th april 2014 i went play music and speaker was completely off and worse and wouldnt come back on at all and when i had a closer look in head phone jack with a light see if anything was stuck (even though was new speaker) (you never no lol) nothing was there but noticed it was bent hence how I found this topic googled bent iphone 5s in google this was top topic so now i need another travel to newcastle today (11th april 2014) and now i want a swop no arguements because my phone is worse since i taken it too apple

jf

my daughters phone bent even with a phone cover on to protect it. at the local solihull branch the technician didn’t want to know and just said ,its not covered and would cost £260 to repair!! we had a talk lasting loudly for a few minutes so all asunder could hear ,i just asked her where she kept her phone — she told me they are not designed to be in your back pocket i said where is yours know errr yes in her back pocket —this is clearly a design fault from the start and the sides should not have been made of cheap aluminium.. i told her i have my iPhone 4 for nearly 4 years and no issues, well I’m up for renewal of 4 contracts soon, guess what? they won’t be apple..